MONROE - Two train cars derailed around 2:25 a.m. Monday, causing a portion of Wisconsin 69 to be closed for about seven and a half hours in both directions.
Ken Lucht, community development manager for Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, said ice and snow buildup on a public sidewalk which crosses the tracks led to the derailment.
"We noticed some large tire tracks from what looked like a snowplow," Lucht said. "What probably happened is that the tires compacted the snow into ice, and when the train wheels hit that ice they derailed."
The police department closed Wis. 69 with barricades to the south at 21st Street and to north at 17th Street. Officers re-directed traffic to those streets.
By 9:30 a.m. the train was moved off Wis. 69, and the road was open to traffic by 10:15.
Lucht said a locomotive and 11 cars were westbound to the Badger State Ethanol plant. They were all empty, Lucht said, and were going to the plant to be loaded with corn and distiller's grain.
Ken Lucht, community development manager for Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, said ice and snow buildup on a public sidewalk which crosses the tracks led to the derailment.
"We noticed some large tire tracks from what looked like a snowplow," Lucht said. "What probably happened is that the tires compacted the snow into ice, and when the train wheels hit that ice they derailed."
The police department closed Wis. 69 with barricades to the south at 21st Street and to north at 17th Street. Officers re-directed traffic to those streets.
By 9:30 a.m. the train was moved off Wis. 69, and the road was open to traffic by 10:15.
Lucht said a locomotive and 11 cars were westbound to the Badger State Ethanol plant. They were all empty, Lucht said, and were going to the plant to be loaded with corn and distiller's grain.